Telling Lies
by yuliya inna
Summary: Logan struggles to reconstruct his life after a minor accident causes him to lose his football scholarship. Rated for language, sex, drug use. Possible violence in the future.
1. Chapter 1

... and that was it. My football career, my scholarship, my life. After three and a half years of struggling to maintain a 2.5 GPA for a degree I never cared about. After spending all of my free time working in a kitchen so I could pay my rent. The countless NFL scouts... It all ended with a slip on the ice.

Now, almost twenty-three years old, I was forced to move back to Stoneybrook. Since moving to New York, I hadn't come back once. My family came to visit me for holidays and birthdays - they all agreed that New York was more interesting. Last year, when my mother passed away, we went back to Louisville for weeks. I never wanted to so much as drive through Stoneybrook, and now I was being forced to live there once again.

Temporarily, of course. I just needed to sort things out...

I arrived at the bus station in Stamford, met by my sister Kerry. Originally I was supposed to take a cab home, but Kerry had begged for our father to lend her his car so she could come pick me up. I was grateful - my money was tight and I wasn't about to expect my father to help me out at all.

"I'm really sorry, Logan," Kerry broke the silence, keeping her eyes on the road. "I know how much that scholarship meant to you..."

"Don't worry about it," I replied, not wanting to discuss it. Even though she was three years younger than me, we'd never really been very close. I envied the relationship she had with Hunter, who was now fifteen. They shared a bond that I would never be able to understand. Everyone had always called me the "golden son" up until high school, and I took a serious hit when the praise started disappearing.

"Well, you've been doing really good," Kerry continued. "Maybe you can save up enough money to go back and finish your degree? Or get a student loan or something?"

"Maybe, we'll see..." We remained in silence the rest of the way home.

Much to my surprise, my father rushed outside when we pulled into the driveway. A smile spread across my face, for a quick moment I could remember how it felt to be appreciated by my father. This feeling was snatched away from me, as fast as my father could rip the keys from Kerry's hand and inspect his car for damages or spills of any kind. He muttered a quick, "hey" to me before going back inside.

"God, he is such a dick," Kerry sighed before grabbing some of my bags and heading in the house. I grabbed a couple of bags myself and followed her inside. She led me to Hunter's bedroom and placed my things next to the closet.

"Uh, you're gonna have to share a room with Hunter," Kerry explained. She pulled me inside the room and lowered her voice. "When Mom died, Dad switched to your old room and locked Mom's things in their old room..."

"Are you fucking serious, Ker?" I groaned. "That's just stupid!"

"Well, I never said it wasn't! But that's how it has to be, okay?"

I nodded, and set my things down. "Where is Hunter, by the way?"

"He's with one of his girlfriends," Kerry snarked. "He's kind of a man-slut."

"Oh," I answered.

"So, anyway," Kerry interjected. "It's too late for you to really do anything, like looking for a job or whatever you wanted to do, so I was thinking you might wanna..."

"I just wanna sleep."

"Yeah, but, I know for a fact that a certain someone is on her winter break as well and still lives right across the street!"

"Mary Anne?" I tried to hide my intrigue.

"Yeah, and I don't think she's seeing anyone right now!" Kerry flashed an obvious grin. "I heard it from Jeff, in case you were wondering..."

"Who's Jeff?"

"Dawn's brother," Kerry answered. "Mary Anne's step-brother."

"Shit, that's right..." I was embarrassed that I'd forgotten about him. "So, what? Mary Anne and I broke up for good, I think..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Kerry rolled her eyes. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and started sending a text message. "I'm telling Jeff to get Mary Anne's butt over here, 'kay?"

"This is juvenile!" I shouted. "Don't bother, I'll just go over there, okay?" Kerry smiled at me and then disappeared into her bedroom.

I went into the bathroom and started at my reflection. I had noticable bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. Since my "accident" on the big, bad patch of ice, I'd been having trouble sleeping and would often drink coffee and pull all-nighters, or drink until I could pass out. The latter is what I chose the night before coming back to Stoneybrook.

I took a quick shower. Maybe I could look a little more... human. Ugh.


	2. Chapter 2

I found myself standing for some time on the doorstep of the Spier household, wondering if I should bother knocking or if I should walk back across the street and go to bed. Anxiety bellowed in my stomach like an ulcer, and I began to turn around and leave. Suddenly, the door swung open and Richard Spier laughed. "Logan, what brings you around?"

I smiled awkwardly, hoping he hadn't noticed me standing there for so long. "Well, sir, I just got back from the city and I heard that Mary Anne was in town, so I thought I would come by and..."

"Say no more, come on in!" Richard patted me on the back and motioned me to come into the house. I shut the door quietly behind me and hung my coat in the closet. Richard smiled at me again, and led me to the family's living room. Sharon jumped up from her seat on the coach.

"Oh my, Logan! I haven't seen you in years!" She hugged me and then called Mary Anne from upstairs. "How have you been?"

"Well, I've been having a bit of a rough time," I began. My thought was interrupted by Mary Anne slinking down the stairs in a pair of tight jeans and a flannel shirt. She'd grown her hair since high school, and she looked gorgeous.

"Logan..." she blushed. "Wow, um... hi!"

"Hi," I said back to her, becoming aware of the wrinkles in my t-shirt. Luckily she didn't seem to notice, and suggested we go downstairs to the basement.

"We just renovated a couple weeks ago, and we have it all set up for Christmas," she explained. "Oh, I'm making hot chocolate for everyone, would you like some?"

"Sure, that sounds great," I replied.

"It's been so long since we've talked," Mary Anne said, leading me to the kitchen. She prepared mugs of hot chocolate, complete with multi-coloured marshmallows and whipped cream. "We really have a lot to catch up on!"

"I know, I've been so busy with school," I said, trailing off. "I guess that's done though..."

"Oh, you graduated?"

"Well, not exactly..." Mary Anne nodded, and then picked up two mugs.

"Can you grab those two for me? I have to give these to my dad and Sharon." I agreed and followed her back to the hallway, waiting by the door to the basement.

Mary Anne came back and took one of the hot chocolates from me, and led me down the stairs. She had a certain confidence that she lacked when we were younger, like she was finally sure of herself. It was shocking to me; I had only known her as the soft-spoken intellect, but she had finally discovered how sexy she was and I was completely in awe.

The basement looked much larger than it had years ago, more open. It mirrored the upstairs living room with a large, blue fabric couch, a matching love-seat, and a red oak coffee table in the middle of the room. The walls were decorated with art, movie posters, and photographs, and there was a general warmth that couldn't be ignored.

There were also Christmas decorations, as Mary Anne had explained. A small, predecorated tree sat on a table in the corner of the room. There were coloured lights strung around the perimeter of the ceiling, and a large centerpiece sat in the middle of the coffee table. We rested our hot chocolates on large coasters, mine had a picture of Santa Claus resting his hand on Rudolph's back, and Mary Anne's had two elves painting a toy firetruck. Sitting on the couch to my right, Mary Anne leaned back and crossed her right leg over the left. She sighed softly, smiling. I watched her as her eyes scanned the room, and she looked genuinely happy.

"So," she leaned forward a bit. "You're not in school anymore? What happened?"

I rubbed my forehead and groaned slightly. "Well, I was on a football scholarship at CCNY, and I was majoring in Philosophy. I had NFL scouts coming to my games, but then I was leaving work one night..." I groaned quietly and looked down at my hands. "I was walking through the parking lot and someone's car alarm went off, I jumped a bit and slipped on some ice..."

"Oh no!" Mary Anne cried, genuinely concerned.

I continued. "The way I fell broke my leg in seven spots and damaged a tendon; I was wearing a cast for six weeks. When I went in to get it taken off, they realized it didn't heal properly so they had to re-break it and I was stuck for another six weeks. And, well, it healed enough for me to be able to walk properly... but my career as a running back is over."

Mary Anne put her hand on my knee. "Logan, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Mare, I'll figure something out..."

"Let me know if you need anything, okay? I'm always willing to listen, you know that."

"Anyway," I took a big sip of my hot chocolate. "What have you been up to? Last I heard, you were in Buffalo State?"

"Yeah, I graduated two years ago," Mary Anne explained. "I've been working as a substitute teacher."

"Oh wow, that's the perfect job for you!" I gushed. "I always knew you'd end up working with kids - it always came so natural to you!"

"Well, actually I was mostly working in high schools," she pouted slightly, before her big smile returned. "But I won't be doing that anymore anyway!"

"What?"

"I just got recruited by a modeling agency!' she beamed. "After Christmas I'm flying out to Paris to do a shoot for the spring issue of Passion!"

"Wow..." I wasn't sure how I felt about Mary Anne being a model, especially for an international magazine. Passion had an unsavoury reputation, from both its photographers and models, as well as the agency representatives. I wasn't sure how much of it was true, but I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of Mary Anne being involved in that kind of business. Still, I feigned excitement for her. It was clear to me that I was someone from her past alone - my opinion had little impact after all the years apart.

"I know, isn't it fantastic?" Mary Anne pulled a a black, hardcover book from under the coffee table. "You wanna see my portfolio?"

"Sure," she dropped the book in my lap and flipped the cover open.

"Guess who the photographer is!" I shook my head. "Claudia Kishi!"

"Oh really? That's cool!"

"Yeah, she only took this first one though," she explained as she flipped the page. "The rest are from different photographers. My favourite was a man from Montreal named Alain Daviau, he took the last one in my book."  
"These are pretty gorgeous, I have to admit!" I told her, flipping through and examining every page of her portfolio. There were photos of her modeling wedding gowns, evening wear, casual clothing, and portraits. She was clearly very talented as expressing emotions on command.

I came to the last page with the photograph taken by Alain Daviau. I'd never heard of him, but I also had no idea about anyone in the fashion industry. I was stunned when I saw the photo - an ad for J'adore, a jewellery store in Montreal. Mary Anne was laying on a leather couch, wearing six inch stilettos and draped in diamonds - and nothing else!

"They were gonna use it for their ad campaign, but the owner wanted to use someone well known..." Mary Anne stated, oblivious to my uneasy reaction. "What do you think?"

"You're naked."

"I know, it's so different for me!" Mary Anne squealed. "I was a little bit nervous about doing it, but it came out to be so tasteful and elegant, don't you think?"

"I think it's... nothing like I would've ever expected from you," I muttered. I hated that some random man had taken a picture of my ex-girlfriend naked. I didn't think it was tasteful or elegant - it looked trashy and desperate, borderline pornography. I could feel myself becoming more and more upset, so I decided it was time for me to leave.

"It was great seeing you, Logan!" Mary Anne walked me to the front door. "I hope everything works out for you, I really do!"

"Thanks," I said. "I think you'll be perfect for Passion magazine, Mary Anne. Have a lovely Christmas."

As I crossed the street to go back to my father's house, I regretted going to see Mary Anne. She wasn't the person I dated in high school anymore. She wasn't the person I longed to see when I was in the hospital in New York. She wasn't anyone I knew, and I didn't want to be around her anymore. I was glad she was leaving.

Good riddance, I thought as I crawled into bed. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke up fairly early and drudged down the stairs into the kitchen. Everyone else had already been up - Hunter was at school and Kerry had gone to work - so I made myself a cup of coffee in attempt to gain some energy. My father came into the kitchen and sat down, laying his newspaper flat on the counter and began flipping the pages. He settled on the sports section, and I noticed him groan as he glanced at me, than continued reading.

The idea of being alone in a room with my father had been jarring me since the plan to move back to Stoneybrook. Since my mother passed away, it was very difficult - awkward at times - to have a simple conversation with him. Sometimes it felt as if I wasn't related to him at all.

"Do you want a coffee or tea?" I asked him as the kettle boiled. He didn't even look up from his paper, so I repeated myself.

"Listen, Logan," he grumbled. "If I want something, I'll get it myself. I know you don't wanna be here, so let's not act like this is some big family reunion, okay? I'm doing you a favour, here!"

"Sorry, I was just..."

"Yeah, you were just..." he cut me off. "Just don't, please! I'm trying to read about some real athletes now."

"Real athletes?" I felt my face redden from anger.

"Yeah, you know those guys who get paid by professional teams," he snapped back at me. "The ones you see on TV and people are excited to see?"

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm not one of them!" I shouted. "I was being scouted by six or seven different NFL teams, dad! I got a full scholarship to a really good university because of my athleticism!"

"And you fucked it up, didn't you, son?"

"It could happen to anybody."

"But it happened to you," my father sneered. He lifted his newspaper and held it in front of his face. "Big surprise."

I bolted out of the kitchen before I snapped. I'd already begun to get defensive, which I knew was because I agreed with him completely. What kind of athlete can't walk on a piece of ice? I didn't know what to do, so I got dressed and just walked.

I walked along all of the streets I remembered from when this town was my home. So many people had come in and out of the houses I passed, I no longer knew everyone on my street. When I was in high school, almost every house on my block was home to a friend of mine, and now they were filled with strangers.

I ended up back at the high school, standing in the parking lot and staring at the football field. A gym class was out playing soccer, and I laughed softly. Just like Mr. Anderson to make everyone participate in an outdoor gym class in the middle of winter. I walked closer to the field, far enough to not be noticed by the students, and watched them play, reminiscing on my time at this school.

I was such a star in high school. I was the captain of the football team, and MVP of the baseball team the one year I played. I won a silver medal three years in a row during the regional track and field tournament. I was friends with everyone. Mary Anne and I were dating and happy as clams.

Mary Anne.

I realized how much things had changed. Mary Anne was a completely different person from the lovely girl I knew in high school. She was the stuck up, conceited snob I'd avoided for years. I missed her beautiful, poetic intelligence and sensitivity. I missed the way she smiled after I complimented her, and looked at me as if I was the most important person in the world.

Last night was so different. She looked at me like a cousin she hasn't seen in years, someone who isn't very close but you remain civil - still kind - but your heart isn't there. The conversation is meaningless, it's fluff. It's like she had no idea who I was, just a face and a name. We weren't important to each other.

Well, I wasn't important to her.

This cemented my feelings of worthlessness. Not only had I disappointed myself in every way when it came to my career and school, but the one person I'd always been able to fall back on had disappeared. In high school, Mary Anne could always be counted on to take me back, give me the love and admiration I needed. However, she also knew how to take it away. If I wasn't sensitive enough, if I missed one too many dates, if I messed up in any way, I was out the door.

My thoughts were temporarily interrupted by the ringing of the school bell, I quickly continued down the street and made my way to Stoneybrook Mall, trying to find something to distract myself with. I wandered aimlessly through stores until I came upon a sporting goods shop. I stood in front of it for a few minutes before walking inside.

The store felt like a second home to me. I knew everything about all of the equipment, the clothing, and I wanted to use it all. Even if it wasn't on a professional team. I missed it badly. I felt incomplete.

The longing turned into pain. I rushed to leave the store, but accidentally knocked into someone, sending her things toppling to the floor. I stopped and helped her pick them up.

"I'm so sorry, I was just in a hurry and I had something on my mind, please forgive m-"

"Logan Bruno, is that you?" the woman asked.

I stood up and looked at her. It was Kristy Thomas. A completely different Kristy Thomas from the one I remembered. This Kristy Thomas was a knock-out, wearing make up, high heeled boots, and a tight, leather jacket. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Long time, we should catch up if you have time!" Kristy smiled at me. Long time, indeed, I thought to myself. I agreed to have coffee with her, and helped her carry some of her things. 


End file.
